Improvement in flock-machines



W. MOALLISTER. FLOCK MACHINE.

N0. 109,920. Patented De0.6, 1870.

Wifnewe Sn venimz WILLIAM McALLISTER, 0r LAWRNGE, MASSACHUSETTS.

Letters Patent No. 109,920, dated December 6, 1870.

IMPOVEMENT IN FLOCK-MACHINES.

'.I.he fichedule referred to in these Letten Patent and ma.klng part of the name.

I, WILLIAM MCALLISTER, of Lawrence, county of Essex and State of Massachusetts, have imcnted certain Improvements in Flock-Mahines, of which the following is a specification.

l gure l is an elevation of the machine.

Figure 2 is a section on the line az: ac.

Figure 3 is a "iew showing tl1e gate E partly lifted.

Figure 4 is a gear carrying the feed.

A is a roller, provider]. with spiral knives a. 0.

B is a hopper, t-hrongh which the material enters.

C is the 'eed rcgulating the snpply of material to the cutter.

D is the gear carrying the feed.

E is a gate for regnlating the exit of the flock.

H is a bed supportmg two or more knives.

L L are the knves in the bed H.

K K and J J are frame-werk supporting various parts of t-he machine.

M M are wedgcs holding in place the bed. H.

0 0 are set-screws to elevate or deprcss bed H.

The first part of my invention relates to the combination of the statonary knives and rotary spiral knives, in such a marmer that the said stationary knives aan he rew2rsed readily by lifting the bed in which they are held from it-s place, and reversing it end for end; the object of thispart of my invention being a simple and ecnomical method of keeping the knives of a flock-machine costantly sharp and ready for use.

The second part of my invcnt-on relates to the feeding mechanism, consisting of thehopper B and spiked feed-rollers C, revolving in opposite directions, having their spikes interlapping; the object of this part of my inventionheing to produce a new and oheap'mechanism for tearing apart the flock material, and regulating the supply of the same to the redncing-chamher.

'lhe third part of my imrention relat-es to the comhination, with the hopper aud knves of a flock-machine, of a redncingmhamber, provided with an adjustable opening for the escape of the flock; the ohject of this part of my inventon being to increase 01 diminish the quantity of flock which can escape from the redncing-chamber, thereby keeping it a. longer or shorter time under the action of the reducingknires.

The iame-W0ll: K K and J J should be of some durable material, and very strongly put together, affording a steady support to bed H and roller A.

Bed H has two or more parallel steel knves, and should be provided with set-screws or some mechanica de"ice of that kind,

Roller A is provided with a. series of parallel steel knives, a a, arranged in a spiral, so disposed that the edges of the same may revolve nearly in contact with the edges of the knives L:

Roller A is inclosed in a case or box, called a reduing-chamber. This chamber has a hopper, B, at one end, and an aperture at the other.end, with an adjustable cover 0'r gate, E.

Thns this reducing-chamber is provided with an inlet te I'CCGW3 the flock through the hopper,knives to reduce the flock, and an out-let for the escape of the flock through t-he gate.

This gate is made adjnstable, and fnrnishcs a simple and good method of controlling the rate and fineness of the product of the machine.

By means of this gate, the flock may be retained in the redncing-chamber, and suhjected to the action of the knves a Jonger or shorter time, as reqnred to make a finer or coarser product.

This rcducing-chamber, With an adjustable ontlet, possesses many advantages; for example, by shuttng the gate nearly down when the flock material is unexen and lumpy, the coarse material will be held back in the chamber, and the flock material of snficiently fine gracle allowed toescape; and, in general, this adjustable gate is a most valuable part of my invention, as it oompletely controls the product of the machine, and its ufluence extends back upon the flockmaterial while in the reducii1g-chamber, and is feit by the flock from the moment it enters the hopper The essential parts of thereducing-chamher are the' inlet or hopper, the knives, and the ontle t or gate.

Between the hopper B and the reducing-ch amber is the feed 0. "llllS consists of two or more rollers with protruding spikes.

These spiked rollers revolve in opposite directions, having their SPl(CS nterlapping, and are placed under the hopper, so that the spikes may catoh and tear out a certain portion from the material in the hopper, and

oarry it down to the reducing-knives in the chamber below.

The essential parts of this feed are -the hopper, the rollers, and the spikes on these rollers.

I am aware chat hoppers containing feedrollers are not new, and are used in other machines; hut, where two rollers have been nsed, they h2we been ether plain or corrugated, for the pnrpose merely of feeding, and not spiked, as in my machine, for the double pur pose of picking apart the material, and then feeding it to the place where it is required.

Bed H is so constructed that it aan readily be lifted from its position, and reversed, end for end, when the knives L have becorne dull.

These knives should be made of a softer qnality of metal than the spiral knives 6 a in order that the former may lake the main part of t-he wear while in nse.

By a constant act-ion of the machine, the edge of the knives L of the bed H will be turncd in the direc- 

